Murder trial wrapping up
LEGAL teams are set to make their final cases to the jury this morning in the alleged murder of a New Zealand chef on a Cairns street.
Jake Desmond Livingstone, 22, is accused of punching and strangling 27-year-old Philip Quayle in a random attack on a Cairns CBD street early on February 26, 2015.
During the Cairns Supreme Court trial, a witness described watching Mr Livingstone yell “die” as he held Mr Quayle in a headlock on the side of Spence St.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murder.
The final witness to give evidence in the trial yesterday was a second forensic pathologist called by the defence, who said Mr Quayle’s death could be attributed entirely to heart disease.
The court had been told during the trial an autopsy found one of his arteries was significantly blocked.
Forensic pathologist Dr Paul Botterill, who performed the autopsy, ruled the cause of his death inconclusive, saying the head injuries, neck compression from strangulation or the heart disease could all have been responsible.
He said the head injuries were the most likely cause.
But the second pathologist, Prof Johan Duflou, who did not take part in the autopsy but read Dr Botterill’s report, said he disagreed with the head injury conclusion.
He said a short run taken by Mr Quayle before the alleged attack, his intoxication and the undiagnosed heart disease could have caused his death.
The court heard Mr Quayle had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 per cent when he died.
“It’s something that can’t be excluded as a reasonable possibility,” Prof Duflou said.
He said the lack of evidence of a strangling meant neck compression was a “very unlikely cause of death”.
He said there were also “significant problems” with ruling the head injuries as the cause of death.
But Crown prosecutor Michael Cowan queried whether there had been cases where choking victims showed no signs of injury, which Prof Duflou conceded there had.
“Although in fatal cases I think it would be courageous to give that as a cause of death,” he said.